A 5-year-old boy was reportedly saved from drowning on Saturday after a group of bystanders teamed up to intervene.
The incident reportedly took place shortly after 1 p.m. at Lincoln Parish Park.
West Monroe resident Christy Russ and a few of her family members were out at the park beach that day for a late Fourth of July celebration when the near drowning occurred.

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Joining the list of businesses taking up shop in the Historic Downtown District of Ruston, the House of Flowers and Cake Shoppe moved from its former location on East Georgia Avenue to its current location at 100 N. Vienna St., this past March .
“We had been in the other building a long time,” said Dana Taylor, owner of House of Flowers and Cake Shoppe. “It needed repairs and I realized there wasn’t a bakery or flower shop downtown at the time. It just felt like it was a good move to make. It’s been fun. We have enjoyed the walk-ins.”

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Choudrant High School alumna Katie Hogan is among the more than 2,000 additional winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by colleges and universities announced this week. These Merit Scholar designees join more than 2,500 other college-sponsored award recipients who were announced in late May.

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Kicking off this year’s theater season, Ruston Community Theatre is holding auditions for “Nana’s Naughty Knickers” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
“We are just looking for energetic individuals of all ages,” said Director Allie Bennett. “There are a couple of parts for individuals in their 20s, and also a few roles for more mature individuals. It’s not particularly a large cast.”

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After completing the third weekend of games and even longer amount of time for team practices, Ruston Parks and Recreation would like to remind participants about the reality of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in basketball. This sport is becoming increasingly responsible for sending young athletes to hospital emergency rooms with TBI or concussions.

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Chelsea Hayes teared up, so did Gary Stanley.
Jason Morgan didn’t, but could have easily done so.
Who could have blamed them?
For crying out loud, this is the Olympic Games and nobody this side of the original world’s biggest sporting event in Athens, Greece can’t help but savor the moment and bask in it with every ounce of patriotism and competitiveness possible.

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GRAMBLING— “Challenges are opportunities for improvement,” said a satisfied Percy “Chico” Caldwell, Grambling State University’s newly appointed Athletic Director.
Since being hired Caldwell has faced a number of challenges, made big decisions, and hired new faces; all in hopes of improving the university. Thus far he is pleased with his transition.

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Although Lincoln Parish high-school students fared better on their End-of-Course exams than many across the state, there is always room for improvement.
The tests, which are replacing the Graduate Exit Exam, are administered to students enrolled in Algebra I, English II, geometry and biology. Beginning this spring, the exams will also be given to students enrolled in American History and English III. Students earn a rating of Excellent, Good, Fair or Needs Improvement in each subject. To pass, one must earn at least a Fair rating.

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No doubt the folks at the Health Hut were a bit surprised to see Morgan Freeman coming through the door of the mobile medical clinic for the uninsured. After all, things are usually pretty quiet in the Hut on Friday afternoons.
Though the staff had a tad of a heads-up that the Oscar-winning actor with the eloquent, distinctive voice was coming, to have all 6’2” of him right there less than arm’s length away in the converted RV was pretty exciting. Family Nurse Practitioner Chequen Thomas even undid her ponytail, letting her hair flow over her shoulders and around her stethoscope.

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